New Living Translation
Isaiah 29:11
11All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.”
Isaiah 29:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
- New International Version (NIV)For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
- New King James Version (NKJV)The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
Context of Isaiah 29:11
9Are you amazed and incredulous? Don’t you believe it? Then go ahead and be blind. You are stupid, but not from wine! You stagger, but not from liquor! 10For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries. All the future events in this vision are like a sealed book to them. When you give it to those who can read, they will say, “We can’t read it because it is sealed.” 12When you give it to those who cannot read, they will say, “We don’t know how to read.” 13And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Read all of Isaiah 29Isaiah 29:11 word by word
וַתְּהִ֨י לָכֶ֜ם חָז֣וּת הַכֹּ֗ל כְּדִבְרֵי֮ הַסֵּ֣פֶר הֶֽחָתוּם֒ אֲשֶֽׁר־יִתְּנ֣וּ אֹת֗וֹ אֶל־יוֹדֵ֥עַ סֵ֛פֶר לֵאמֹ֖ר קְרָ֣א נָא־זֶ֑ה וְאָמַר֙ לֹ֣א אוּכַ֔ל כִּ֥י חָת֖וּם הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the visionחָזוּתchâzûth · visionH2380
- of all is become unto you as the wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- of a bookסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: documentH5612
- that is sealedחָתַםchâtham · to sealH2856
- deliverנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- to one that is learnedיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
- sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Readקָרָאqârâ' · to call: read outH7121
- I cannotיָכֹלyâkôl yâkôl · be ableH3201
Cross-references for Isaiah 29:11
- Isaiah 8:16Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
- Daniel 12:4But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
- Matthew 11:25At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike.
- Matthew 13:11He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.
- Matthew 16:17Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
- Revelation 5:1Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals.
- Revelation 6:1As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”
Commentaries on Isaiah 29:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11I cannot; for it is sealed "I cannot read it; for it is sealed up" - An ancient MS. and the Septuagint have preserved a word here, lost out of the text; לקרות likroth, (for לקראות ), , read it.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11And the vision of all - The vision of all the prophets; that is, all the revelations which God has made to you (see the note at Isaiah 1:1). The prophet refers not only to his own communications, but to those of his contemporaries, and of all who had gone before him. The sense is, that although they had the communications which God had made to them, yet they did not understand them. They were as ignorant of their true nature as a man who can read is of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-16Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-12Jerusalem’s blindness kept its people from understanding God’s plan. Here, blindness does not mean physical blindness. It means spiritual blindness. The people could see with their eyes, but they did not understand what God was doing.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. of all--rather, "the whole vision." "Vision" is the same here as "revelation," or "law"; in Is 28:15, the same Hebrew word is translated, "covenant" [Maurer]. sealed--(Is 8:16), God seals up the truth so that even the learned, because they lack believing docility, cannot discern it (Mt 13:10-17; 11:25). Prophecy remained comparatively a sealed volume (Da 12:4, 9), until Jesus, who "alone is worthy," "opened the seals" (Re 5:1-5, 9; 6:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 29:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries